Chapter 19
A week later, Oz was having a hard time concentrating on the meetings he was having with his teammates. He loved waking up with Riley every morning, and Bree and Logan kept him entertained as he got them fed and ready for school.
Logan had told him last night when they were outside in the park, throwing a baseball back and forth, that he really liked his new school, and that he’d made a friend in his class who liked baseball as much as he did.
Bria was also settling in well. She had moments where she showed evidence of the abuse she’d suffered, but with her brother by her side, she was blossoming.
And then there was Riley. Oz had never been as happy in a relationship as he was with her.
She worked hard, never complained, and seemed just as happy with their routine as he was.
Oz had no idea what he’d do without her.
He’d probably muddle by, but she made his life so much easier, and fulfilling, just by being herself.
She met Logan and Bria in the afternoons when they got off their bus and kept them entertained until he got home.
Gillian, Aspen, and Kinley had been taking turns coming over to help Riley with the kids too.
They’d gone to the park and had done crafts, and generally anything they could to help Riley keep them occupied until dinnertime.
He was a lucky man. The more time he spent with Riley, the more time he wanted to spend with her.
“You’re feeling it, aren’t you?” Trigger asked as they sat in a conference room waiting for their next debriefing to start.
Not embarrassed in the least that his teammates were all shamelessly listening to their conversation, Oz nodded.
“Being scared to death that something will happen to her when I’m not there?
As if the day can’t be over soon enough?
That if she ever left me, I’d be nothing but a shell of the man I used to be? Yeah, I feel it.”
Trigger grinned. “It’s awesome, isn’t it?”
“You didn’t think it was awesome when you thought Gillian had been shot and you literally freaked out like a newb soldier who was seeing blood for the first time,” Lucky teased.
“Fuck you,” Trigger told his friend and threw a pencil at him. “Wait until you find a woman and she cuts a finger or something. You’ll want to faint in panic too.”
Lucky grinned. “Not gonna happen. Any woman who ends up with me will have my good luck rub off on her.”
“Oh, shit,” Brain said. “Famous last words.”
“And since you’re interested in my sister, you obviously have no clue. Devyn’s a terror. She’ll keep you on your toes, and I guarantee you’ll puke your guts up the first time she tells you she wants to go bungie jumping off the side of a mountain.”
Lucky actually paled, and Oz couldn’t help but chuckle.
The door opened, stopping the conversation. A major entered the room and set a folder down on the table before sitting.
Any teasing and joking the Delta team had been doing was immediately stopped, as it was obvious the man wasn’t happy about something.
“There’s been a series of kidnappings in Afghanistan,” he said solemnly. “It looks like Abdul Shahzada has taken over for Mullah Abbas Akhund.”
“The asshole that we killed,” Lefty said.
“Yeah, him. We were pretty sure Shahzada was the true head of the organization, but he was letting Akhund take the lead for some reason. We were right. Now there’ve been a few contractors who’ve gone AWOL from the base, and none of their loved ones have heard from them.
There’s reason to believe that Shahzada may be responsible.
But he’s still a ghost. We have no intelligence on the man, except that he’s been gaining power.
Word on the street is that he’s practicing his torture techniques before striking hard against the Army units who are over there protecting the area. ”
“What’s the plan?” Doc asked.
“Nothing as of now. We’re watching and waiting.”
“And the missing contractors?” Grover asked.
The major sighed. “Our hands are tied. Their employers have hired private investigators to try to track them down, but we’re in a wait-and-see holding pattern.”
“That’s bullshit,” Grover complained. “The contractors are there serving their country just like the active-duty men and women.”
“I know, and I agree. But politics being what they are, we haven’t been approved to move in and see if we can find them as of yet.”
“One of the food contractors hasn’t answered my emails since our last deployment to Afghanistan,” Grover said, the tension easy to hear in his voice. “Is she listed as one of the missing?”
“What’s her name?”
“Sierra Clarkson.”
The major shuffled some papers in front of him and Oz could see Grover’s impatience as he waited to see what the officer would say.
“No one’s heard from Sierra Clarkson,” the major said. “It looks like she left not too long after Akhund was killed. All her personal belongings were gone along with her.”
“It’s bullshit to think that she just up and left,” Grover said angrily. “Especially when other contractors have gone missing. No one just goes AWOL from Afghanistan.”
“Some people have married locals,” the officer said.
“Sierra hadn’t been in the country long enough to meet anyone at the time of her disappearance,” Grover growled.
Oz knew if Grover continued to antagonize the major, he might push him too far, and while he was also worried about Sierra, he wasn’t sure what they could actually do about her disappearance at this point.
Before he could think of something to say to deflect the attention away from his stressed-out and obviously upset teammate, Lucky spoke.
“How many more have to disappear before we’re approved to do something about it?”
“I have no idea. Hopefully none,” the major said.
The man sounded stressed, and Oz believed him when he said he hoped no one else had to disappear before they could figure out what the hell was going on.
“Moving on,” the officer said, “Venezuela is still an extremely volatile hot spot.”
Trigger snorted but didn’t comment further. He didn’t need to; they all remembered the last time they were in that country, when Gillian’s plane had been hijacked, and the fallout from that event.
Oz listened carefully as they discussed the various places the United States was keeping an eye on. As the major listed country after country, he realized one of the things he liked best about his new life was how…normal it was.
Bria refused to eat hotdogs, but loved chicken nuggets. Logan could talk baseball stats all day and night, and Riley was always there with a kind and encouraging word. His home life was so completely different from his job as a Delta, where he dealt with conflict and strife all day.
He was a damn lucky man, and Oz knew it. Now that he’d seen the kind of life he could have with Riley, he wasn’t going to do anything to fuck it up…he hoped.
Miles Bowen sat in his gray Kia Rio and glared hatefully at the apartment complex across the street.
Why he’d ever gotten involved with Riley fucking Rogers was beyond him.
Probably because she’d been convenient. A way to stay under the cops’ radar.
But then she’d gone and broken up with him, kicking him out.
No one broke up with Miles. He was the breaker-upper, not the breakee.
But that wasn’t what was pissing him off right now. He didn’t give a shit about Riley. Didn’t even like her—but he needed that disk he’d left in her apartment. If she’d just let him back in to get his shit, he’d be long gone by now.
He’d assumed she’d roll over when he started texting, demanding to be able to come get his stuff.
Then she’d told him that she’d gathered it all up and left it in a box in the fucking mail room!
He’d about lost his shit, thinking about what someone might find if they stole that box before he could get to it.
But then he’d realized there was no way his game was in the box.
Because it wasn’t a game, of course. It was a video he’d burned onto a disk and hidden in her apartment. A video that could send him to jail for the rest of his life, and would essentially be a death sentence.
Miles knew how child molesters were treated in prison. He wouldn’t last a week.
But it wasn’t his fault that he was attracted to kids. It wasn’t! It was just who he was, how he’d always been. But that video could be his downfall, and he needed it back.
As he sat in his car, a school bus pulled up to the edge of the parking lot and kids streamed off. Miles straightened. Some of the kids were too old or young for his liking, but there were several who were perfect for what he liked. Needed.
As he watched, Miles was shocked to see none other than his ex, Riley, come out from the building and open her arms in greeting. A cute little boy with brown hair went running toward her, giving her a big hug. A smaller red-haired girl smiled shyly up at Riley as she approached.
Miles was surprised. He had no idea who these kids were, but it was obvious they were close with Riley. Did she have kids he didn’t know about? He shook his head. No. No way. They had to be her nephew and niece or something. Maybe she was babysitting other people’s kids now for extra money.
His eyes stayed glued to the boy. He needed to get his disk back.
That’s why he was here. He’d decided to break in, was just hoping to see Riley leave at some point.
He’d hidden the disk inside one of her DVD cases, where it was unlikely she’d find it unexpectedly…
but he couldn’t control his excitement at seeing the boy.
If he was important to Riley, he could break into her place, get his disk back—and whatever else he could get his hands on—and hurt Riley even more by taking the boy. She’d fucking regret dissing him and ignoring his texts and calls.
No one ignored Miles Bowen.
Looking at his watch, Miles thought of how much time he’d need to get into Riley’s apartment, take care of her, grab his disk, then meet the kids at the bus stop.
Kids were dumb. He knew enough about Riley to fool them into going with him. And it would be fun to terrorize her with his plans. She’d realize anything that happened to them would be her fault, not his.
He couldn’t wait.